Contents

Early life

Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hill looked up to players like Michael Jordan while dreaming of one day playing in the NBA[1]; when asked about his goal of becoming a first-round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Hill commented: "It's my childhood dream".[2] An only child,[3] Hill attended Broad Ripple High School[4] where he excelled as one of the top high school players in the state and formed part of the 'Magnificent Seven' from Indianapolis (Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Jr., Josh McRoberts, Rodney Carney, Eric Gordon, & Courtney Lee).[5] Carney remembers playing against Hill : "This little kid comes in hitting all kinds of 3s, and I was like, 'Who is this little dude?...I knew he was going to be something when I saw this little skinny kid handling the ball and shooting like that."[5] Hill played against every member of the 'Magnificent Seven' except for Gordon who was recovering from a broken wrist during their meetup.[5] He faced off against Oden and Conley during his Junior year in High School, and remembers playing pickup-games against 10 year old Gordon when he was 13.[5]

In high school, despite only having played soccer as a youth at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, Hill was asked to try out for the goalie position and finished earning all-state honors.[6] In his senior year, Hill averaged a state-leading 36.2 points per game, the fifth-highest single-season-average in Indiana High School Athletic Association history.[7]

College career

Despite receiving scholarship offers from several big conference schools including Florida, Temple and Indiana, he chose to commit to IUPUI, wishing to stay with his ailing great-grandfather, Gilbert Edison.[6] A few months after he verbally agreed to attend IUPUI, his great-grandfather died, never getting the opportunity to see Hill play basketball at the college level. Following the advice of his great-grandfather, who told him to always be 'a man of his word', he decided to pass on other offers and stay at IUPUI.[2]

In his sophomore year, he led the IUPUI Jaguars to a tie for the best record in the conference.

Following an injury that forced him to become a red-shirt in his third year at IUPUI, Hill returned the next season and led the Jaguars to a school-record 26 wins and the Summit League Tournament finals before losing to eventual champion Oral Roberts University and thus failing to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Not counting Hill's injury-shortened 2006–07 season, the Jaguars were 61–30 during his three seasons at IUPUI.

NBA

Advertisements

Draft

Despite having one year of eligibility left, Hill, wishing to "test the waters", declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft. He left IUPUI as the fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,619 points, and became the seconda[›] IUPUI player to declare early.[8] Although he had regularly attracted NBA scouts to his college games, he was not projected in most mock drafts largely due to remaining unannounced.[9]

“

The hard part was putting my name in, knowing I have great teammates and great coaches and if it came down to me leaving, I wouldn't be able to play for the team or the coaches again...The easy thing was, if I put my name in and don't get drafted, I still have the option of coming back and playing for this great university.

In the following months, Hill worked out with several NBA teams. After an impressive run at the Orlando pre-draft rookie camp, Hill attracted attention and became a projected second-round selection. On draft night, the San Antonio Spurs surprised many by selecting George Hill with their 26th pick in the first round; many had San Antonio selecting Mario Chalmers of Kansas.[11] Hill became the second first-round draft choice in The Summit League's history and the first player ever drafted from IUPUI.[12] On September 23, 2008, the Spurs signed Hill to a standard rookie contract that guaranteed the first two years, and included a team option on the next two years.[13]

Summer League 2008

Las Vegas

On July 14, 2008, in his first summer league game as a Spur, George Hill scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while holding fellow draft pick O. J. Mayo to 5-of-17 shooting en route to a victory for the Spurs.[14] Throughout the summer league Hill struggled with his shooting, making only 2 of 25 shots (8.0%), and one of six three-pointers (16.7%). Hill played in all but one of the four summer league games for the Spurs; he finished averaging 8.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 31.7 minutes per game.[15][16]

Rocky Mountain Revue

At the Utah Revue, Hill led his team by averaging 12.9 points over four games; however he continued to struggle offensively with his shooting, only making 21.4% of his three-point field goals.[17] In the first of the four games, Hill led all scorers with 21 points and helped the Spurs defeat the Utah Jazz, 82–57. He followed up with a quiet offensive performance, 6 points, in a win against the NBDL Ambassadors, before scoring 18 points in a loss versus the Gerald Green-led Mavericks. In the final game of the Revue, Hill once again struggled with his shooting (1–7) but managed to make key plays with the game on the line. Hill made two clutch free throws with 6.9 seconds left and then forced a turnover on the defensive end to beat the previously undefeated Atlanta Hawks.[18][19]

Hill made his NBA debut on November 4 against the Dallas Mavericks in the third game of the season for the San Antonio Spurs. Hill sat out the previous two games due to a "sprained left-thumb."[20] In 15 minutes of play, Hill finished with 11 points, 1 steal, and 1 assist. [21] Hill initially served as the main reserve at point guard, however after NBA leading scorer Tony Parker suffered an injury early in the season he was promoted to starter.[22][23] In the Spurs' eighth game of the season—despite being without Parker or Ginobili—the Spurs beat their intrastate rival Houston. Tim Duncan's effort combined with Hill's 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists helped the Spurs come back from behind and defeat the Houston Rockets, 77–75. After the return of Manu Ginóbili and Tony Parker, Hill received fewer minutes. [24][25] Hill finished his rookie season averaging 5.7 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists per game. Hill made his playoff debut in game 2 of the Spurs first-round series against the Mavs, but he only played 5 minutes. In game 3 he played 24 minutes and scored 8 points. His best game was game 5, where he scored 9 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and got 2 steals and a block. The Spurs lost the series 4 games to 1.

Player profile

On draft day, ESPN reported that Hill possessed a 6'9" wingspan[26] and only 3% body fat. Hill's athleticism, length, and strength are among his greatest assets; going into the NBA his defense was described as being "NBA-ready" but still needing to improve offensively.[27] In a media interview Spurs head coach Greg Popovich commented: "(he) Does a little bit of everything, the great thing about him is that he's a very good all around basketball player, he's a tenacious defender, he can score, he can run, he's a good passer, he knows how to play and he's really a team guy".[28] When asked on multiple occasions which current NBA player he most resembled, Hill responded by picking Monta Ellis, adding that he sees himself as a combo guard and an energy player who enjoys playing defense and getting into the passing lanes.[1][29] Despite spending most of his college time at the shooting guard position, at only 6'2" Hill was selected to back up All-StarTony Parker at point guard.[27]

During the past few years, scouts have learned to value length in addition to height. Hill is a great example. One might think that Hill, who stands shorter than 6-foot-3 in shoes and is very skinny, is small, or average at best, for a combo guard.

However, he has a 6-foot-9 wingspan, which allows him to extend his arm past defenders. This forces defenders either to let him get the shot off going to the rim or to get even closer to him on the driving finish, which generates more foul calls.